Uses of Teleportation
by mysticdragon01
Summary: A series of one-shots centering around Nightcrawler and the various uses of his teleportation ability. Starts out silly and fun, but over time, Nightcrawler realizes just how significant of a power he has.
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note**_

_So, today I came home and suddenly felt tired of my long absence here. A lot has changed since my last post. As you can see, I've joined a new fandom. However, I'm still going to continue my previous project; this is more like a way for me to get back into gear. What started as a writing exercise, though, led to this idea that I grew attached to. So, I'm going to do my best to realize it._

_This is a series of one-shots and/or short stories (depends on my mood) involving Kurt and his teleportation. I say one-shots, since they're episodic in nature and will probably jump around in time, space, and the similarity to the cartoon, but there is going to be a certain element of continuity between them, so keep that in mind._

_Anyway, I thought I had more to say, but it seems that I can't think of it at the moment. So, here's the first chapter. I have four others done already, but I'm fine-tuning them and I'm posting this one by itself as a trial run. For one thing, I'm not sure if I should do the accents of the characters. I did write them here, but I'm still uncertain. Second, this is the first time I'm writing for the X-Men, so it's an interesting experience, though I'm sure there are going to be some weaknesses because of that._

_But before I phase into a pessimistic bout of self-criticism, I'll kindly stop and let you read._

_Disclaimer: X-Men and characters belong to Marvel. But this being a fan fiction site, do I really need to state that the characters aren't mine?_

* * *

**Firsts**

Kurt poked his head around the doorway, peeking into the room as if not to disturb it. Good, he recognized this hallway. Being new to the massive Xavier mansion, he was still familiarizing himself with every corner and had taken a detour and gotten lost.

Now that he knew where he was, though, he ran on all fours towards the main entrance. The Professor had told him a new recruit was arriving, and wanted him to be there to greet her and show her around. Kurt had considered questioning this, since he was new himself and wasn't sure whether he was the first thing this new recruit should see. However, he hadn't wanted to doubt the Professor - Kurt owed him more than he could ever repay.

So, with his misgivings quashed by his excitement to meet another mutant, Nightcrawler arrived in the entrance hall with a swishing tail. However, no one was there, so he'd have to wait. Restless, he leapt up to the chandelier and perched himself on it.

He couldn't help but wonder what kind of mutation this new member would have. Now that he knew more on the subject, the list of possibilities was almost ridiculous. He'd always thought that he was abnormal, of course, but he'd thought he was the only one. Now he learned that there could be an X-gene for almost anything. Walking on water? Manipulating sound waves? Being able to lick your elbows? Nothing was too fantastical.

The sound of the door opening brought him back to attention.

"And this is the Xavier mansion," said a voice, recognizably Scott's.

"Oh, wow! This is, like, so cool!"

Kurt's ears perked up at the unfamiliar voice. Light, cheery, and with a none too subtle valley girl accent. He looked down to see them but they were still out of view.

"Yeah, it really is great here," affirmed Scott after letting the stranger marvel for a while. "I'm sorry, but this is where I'll have to leave you; there's an event at school that I really can't miss."

'_Event?_' pondered Kurt. Then he grinned. Of course - the tryouts for the girl's soccer team.

"...somebody else will show you around the house. Don't worry, they'll be here soon."

"Oh, well, thank you so much, Scott. You've– I mean, _it's _been wonderful."

"No problem. I'll see you around."

There was a brief moment of silence before a head finally walked into view. The head had brown hair, but that was all Kurt could tell form his high vantage point. Something about this girl's tone when talking to Scott, though, had stirred an emotion within him - he wasn't sure what it was, but it made him eager to meet her and not to disappoint.

BAMF!

In a red cloud of sulfur, he appeared next to the girl. "Hello!" he beamed, bending over for a bow. "My–"

"Aaah!" the girl screamed once she saw him, causing him to recoil, the grin instantly falling off his face. The girl also stumbled backwards, and was about to trip over her own foot when Kurt grabbed her hand and steadied her.

She tore her hand away from his and tenderly stroked the skin there, in the manner one prods at an injury. "What... What _are _you?"

Kurt remained frozen for a while, his eyes wide and trembling. Then, he blinked back the tears that threatened to form and composed himself. He didn't want to ruin the girl's first day here any more than he already had. "My name is Kurt Wagner," he finished, though his voice was quiet and his body was slumped and lifeless, "also known as Nightcrawler... Zey make you choose a codename..."

She didn't respond; she didn't even move.

"Erm... Vhat's your name?" he asked, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. But from her reactions so far, he might as well not have bothered.

However, the question seemed to snap the girl out of her daze, and she stopped gaping at him as though he were some grotesque deformity. "K-Kitty. Kitty Pryde," she stuttered finally, faking a smile about as successfully as he'd faked his voice.

"Vell, Keety," he began, testing the unfamiliar name with his tongue, "it's nice to meet you." He raised his hand for a handshake but then pulled it back when he remembered how she'd reacted to his touch. He would have to remember to meet new recruits with his uniform and gloves on... Not to mention his image inducer...

"Um... Yeah, nice to meet you," Kitty replied. She seemed to have finally calmed herself because she wasn't shivering anymore. "Sorry I freaked out on you like that, but I just wasn't expecting, you know..."

Kurt dismissed it with a wave, averting his eyes. "Don't vorry, I get zat all ze time." He turned away. "Now zen... vant to see ze rest of zis place?"

"Sure," Kitty uttered, a little too fast.

Kurt nodded and, after a moment of deliberation, decided to show her the first floor first. Without a word, he began walking towards the left doorway, and she followed him. He could feel her eyes on his back. She was probably eying his tail and shuddering at the sight of it. Self-consciously, he wrapped the tip of his tail around his leg to minimize its appearance.

This would be a long tour.

* * *

After having shown Kitty the last room and introduced her to The Professor, Logan, and Ororo, Kurt had drifted off and discreetly 'ported back to his room. There, he threw himself onto his bed and moaned.

He'd let his hopes rise to high. Everyone at the institute was kind to him and didn't gasp when they first saw him, so he'd allowed himself to think that he really would fit in here. What a foolish mistake...

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and stared into the mirror. Gold eyes stared back at him - gold eyes and a blue furred face with pointed ears. Upset with the reflection, he reached for the holowatch on his bedside table, but before he could pick it up, there was a knock on the door.

Sighing, Kurt jumped to his feet and opened the door slightly. It was not who he expected it to be.

"Hello, Kurt," said the Professor. "Do you have a moment?"

"Uh, ja, come in," the blue mutant replied hesitantly, opening the door fully, allowing the Professor to wheel himself in. "Vhat's ze matter?"

"How did it go with Kitty?" Charles asked, rotating himself to face Kurt.

"Fine, it vas fine," Kurt started to say, but the Professor's eyes looked right through him, and Kurt knew that what had happened was no longer private information. A few seconds later, Kurt couldn't stand the look and allowed himself to sigh and his shoulders to sag. "I... I don't zink... I _scare _people, Professor... Maybe it vould be better if I left..."

The Professor was startled by the sudden wave of emotion, but chose to ignore it. He moved to the teen and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kurt, people fear you only because they do not understand you. Once they see who you are inside, they will. Give her time, and Kitty won't even notice your appearance."

"I know, Professor, but... every time someone sees me for ze first time, ze look on zeir face..." Kurt lowered his head and rubbed his arm for comfort. He glanced at the holowatch, still lying on the table. "I vish I didn't look like zis..."

"I understand your resentment, Kurt," Charles continued, "but remember that your mutations are a blessing, not a curse. Your appearance is a part of that, and it is a part of who you are. If you surrendered that, would you be the humorous, kindhearted man you are today? Would you be able to help people in the way only you can?"

Kurt remained staring at his two-toed feet in silence, pondering over the Professor's words.

Smiling, the Professor wheeled himself towards the door. "Don't lose sight of how remarkable you are, Kurt." He stopped suddenly. "Try thinking of all the good things your gifts entail. Your teleportation, for example. With that alone, you can do infinitely more than just transport yourself."

With that, the Professor was gone, and Kurt stared after him, still reflecting upon what he had said.

'_Remarkable? A blessing?_' he repeated to himself, holding his blue tridactyl hands in front of his face. He was about to shrug off the idea when his stomach growled loudly. Of course; he'd missed his routine afternoon snack.

As food pervaded his thoughts, a smile tugged at his face. '_Well, I can think of one good use of teleportation._'

BAMF!


	2. To Touchdown

**Author's Note:  
**

_Well, here's the jump in time I warned you about. This one-shot doesn't take place during any particular episode, so I guess it can be considered AU, but one thing is for certain and that is that Tabitha's with the X-Men, and so are most of the New Mutants._

_I don't play, nor do I know how, American football, so my knowledge of the game is pure Wikipedia. Same goes for the German - I'm trusting Google translator.  
_

_I didn't think I'd be updating so soon, but I was impatient. xD  
Anyway, here it is. The next three chapters are around the corner, but if at any time you have any ideas for one-shots, I'd love to hear them.  
_

_**Disclaimer: **X-men and characters I own not.  
_

* * *

**Football**_  
_

"So, are we clear on the rules?" queried Beast, glancing at both teams.

"Yes," came the unanimous reply.

"All right then. The end zones are between those two trees, and those two trees." Beast pointed to the trees in question, and the heads of the students followed his finger. While it wasn't perfect, these trees and the grassy clearing would have to do. Sure, the students could have used the school's football field for a game of football, but this wasn't just ordinary football. "I won't set any sidelines, but, well, we'll see how that works out."

As he said this, Beast rubbed the back of his neck, recalling other sports the mutants had tried to play and added their variations of rules to. The younger students often got overzealous with these games and, needless to say, the terrain was hardly ever left undamaged. He had to admire whoever kept the grounds in such good shape in spite of the odds - in fact, he was going to find out who and send them a box of chocolates.

Unfortunately, football could be just the activity to finally demolish the mansion. If it did, he would blame it on Wolverine - he was the one who suggested that Beast's classes were too lenient and that they do something more serious. Football with mutant powers was the compromise, and Wolverine seemed to accept the idea. In fact, he ordered that, instead of their usual Danger Room session, the older mutants would join in. They all did.

Smiling to himself, Beast produced a coin from his pocket and held it up in front of the crowd of students. "So, team captains, step forwards."

Kurt took a step from his team members, an eager glint in his eyes. Scott, from the other team, moved forward as well, an equally determined expression visible through his sunglasses. They began to glare at each other and soon found themselves in each others faces.

"You're going down, Kurt," Scott said, jabbing a finger into Kurt's chest.

"In your dreams," Kurt riposted, ignoring the finger. "Wait, no, not even zere."

Beast raised his brow at the exchange but decided to go on before it continued any further. He flipped the coin - a feat more difficult than he remembered it, given his larger hands - and caught it in one palm and covered it with the other. "So... Kurt. What's it going to be?"

The furry mutant glanced back at his tail, swishing with excitement, and answered with a fanged grin, "Tails."

Beast uncovered the coin. "Tails it is," he declared, receiving a few cheers from Kurt's side and a few groans from Scott's. "Do you want to kick off or receive?"

"Receive."

"All right, get in your positions and huddle," Beast announced, picking up the football from beside his feet and tossing it to Scott. "And remember... let's try to keep everyone in one piece."

"Yes, Mr McCoy," the class droned. Beast rolled his eyes at the obvious irritation towards his dislike of violence. For once, he thought as he stepped away from what was sure to become a war zone, he agreed with Logan: 'kids...'

* * *

Kurt glanced at Scott's team as they made their way to the other side of the field, taking note of each member: Rahne, Kitty, Rogue, Roberto, Sam, and Ray. Out of these, Kitty was probably the most threatening - with her phasing, she could score a touchdown without breaking a sweat.

Kurt chuckled to himself when he realized Scott was probably saying the same thing about him. '_Ah, just let them try keep the ball away from me,_' he thought with a confident grin.

Still grinning, he turned to his team - Amara, Bobby, Jamie, Jubilee, Evan, and Tabitha - and they huddled together, looking at him expectantly.

"Okay," started Kurt, leaning in to the circle of heads. "Zis is vhat ve're going to do..."

* * *

Hank blew the whistle. "Get ready to start!" he called, standing a safe distance away. The teams got into their respective positions.

As per the plan, Kurt and Evan were close to each other and far in front of the kicker, which turned out to be Scott. No surprises there. The rest of the team was scattered around, ready to defend.

Hank blew the whistle one more time. Scott took a few steps back, ran forwards, and kicked the ball.

It flew high and a little to the right, but that was no problem. Noticing the opposing team already springing into action, Kurt touched Evan on the shoulder and in a BAMF they reappeared exactly where the ball was going to land.

"Go, Evan," Kurt whispered, and teleported away. Evan caught the ball and started sprinting forwards.

"Evan's got the ball!" Scott exclaimed, as though startled, and Roberto, Sam, and Ray converged on Spyke.

"Don't worry, I've got him," Sam smirked, and, with a running jump, accelerated into cannonball mode. However, instead of colliding with the intended target, he vaguely perceived a puff of smoke before he found himself colliding into a tree.

In the signature BAMF and crimson cloud, Ray and Roberto similarly found themselves on the opposite sides of the field.

Kurt couldn't help himself. "Better luck next time," he said with a wink before 'porting back to Evan.

Surprisingly, the last line of Scott's defense wasn't trying very hard. Rogue was just standing there, and Kitty was nowhere to be seen. Evan already surpassed Rahne, so she was out of the picture for now, but Scott–

Kurt gulped when he saw him reaching for his visor. In a BAMF, Kurt reappeared behind him, but before he could make contact to 'port him away, Kurt was suddenly tackled and got a faceful of grass.

"Ha! Gotcha!"

"Kätzchen!" he yelped, looking up at the girl who was currently pinning him to the ground, a smirk on her face. Forcing himself away from the distraction, he turned his attention back to Scott, who was about to fire when a well aimed blast from Tabitha knocked him off his feet. Evan ran past him.

Briefly sighing with relief, Kurt turned back to Kitty. "Sorry Kätzchen, duty calls."

With that, he 'ported into midair, taking her with him, then 'ported back to Evan's side once he was free of her. However, he needn't have worried - with a victorious yell, Evan crossed the touchdown line and threw the ball down. Raising his hands up in the air, he and Kurt high-fived before the rest of the team ran over, cheering and taunting Scott's on the way.

Kurt noticed Rogue standing with crossed arms, huffing something along the lines of "this isn't fair", and with a flick of his tail, he decided to join in on the fun.

BAMF!

"Meine Schwester, vhat are you zinking, standing around and doing nozing?" the blue mutant gibed, appearing next to her and resting an arm on her shoulder.

Rogue turned to him with a sour expression. "Ah think your teleporting around is cheating."

"Aw, Rogue," Kurt chided, wagging his finger and lowering his voice as if he were talking to a child, "no need to be a sore loser. I can let you vin, if you vant."

Rogue smiled, and he thought it was at his antics. "Nah, but there _is_ something else you can do." She reached out with a hand as if to stroke his face, and for a moment he wanted her to - until he realized her hand wasn't gloved.

He was too late - he felt her smooth palm against his fur and went rigid, his knees going weak. For a moment he felt as though his mind were shut out from his own body, and then it was over. When he recovered, he found himself doubled over, panting.

"Danke, mein Bruder," he heard Rogue say, and she raised his chin with her other hand and gave him a rather annoying smile before disappearing with a BAMF.

He saw her reappear next to Scott, who gave her an approving look and then turned to Kurt smugly.

Kurt clenched his fists and growled. "All right, ze game is on."


	3. To Prank

**Author's Note**

_Here comes the third! This time, we're back at the beginning of the series, sometime before Rogue Recruit. Probably a little AU in that respect, since that episode took place before Halloween, unlike this one-shot. But the timing isn't important._

_Anyway, thinking of this prank was a challenge, as I'm not an evil mastermind (contrary to the notions of some people). I don't really explain it, either, so you're kind of expected to put on the Holmes Hat and figure it out. Either that, or you can ask me and I can tell you, or I can add that into the story somehow. Of course, the whole thing works under the assumption that Kurt's holowatch works the way I imagine it does.  
_

_I noticed that I'm focusing on the relationship between Kurt and Kitty in the first chapters. I guess it's no secret what pairing I support, then. In any case, I'll try to add interactions between Kurt and other characters as well. Specifically, his interactions between Rogue and Beast are ones I look forward to.  
_

_That's all I've got to say. Hope you can enjoy._

_**Disclaimer: **__X-Men and characters belong to Marvel._

* * *

**Halloween**

As Kurt stalked through a lit hallway in the Xavier mansion, he observed once again how unnatural it was that a mansion so large was so empty - especially now that Storm, Scott, and Jean were out for the night. But even in their presence, less than half the mansion's rooms were occupied, and at times like these, it made him feel eerily alone.

The addition of Kitty Pryde did fill a part of the vacuum, but she did not make him feel any less solitary, because although she seemed to have gotten used to his appearance, she was still noticeably tense when near him.

But that was not what Kurt wanted to think about. Today, at the present moment, he was Nightcrawler, the evil spirit of Halloween. Kitty Pryde would scream and tremble, and this was the only day of the year when he was eager to hear it.

The first stage of the prank, setting up, was already over with, so now all that remained was the actual execution of the plan. An evil, fanged grin spread across his face, and with a BAMF, he was gone.

* * *

Kitty hummed to herself in the shower. All in all, she'd had a good few first days. The school was nice, this mansion was fantastic - even with her fairly wealthy upbringing, she'd never imagined living in a room so plush it looked like a five-star hotel - and everyone here was friendly and open-minded.

Of course, there was that situation with Kurt. She knew he'd been hurt by her reaction when they first met, even though he always brushed it off when the subject was brought up. However, the real problem that prevented them from moving on was that she still couldn't feel... _normal_... when around him. She knew he was a good person (if not a little annoying at times) and it was horrible of her, but it was an instinct she had no control over.

Still, she decided as she turned off the warm water, she'd put it right. She owed that much to him.

Finally, Kitty pulled back the curtains only to gasp when she saw the words "NO ONE IS SAFE" written on the fogged mirror. However, very soon the shock wore off and she scoffed as she wrapped herself in a towel. "Kurt, you creep!" she yelled out ferociously, immediately assuming the furry mutant's hand in this - after all, no one else pulled pranks like this. "What were you doing in my bathroom?!"

However, she realized that, at least, Kurt had not been here while she had been showering. If he'd 'ported here, she would have been able to smell it. Huffing, she wiped the message of the mirror, squashing any paranoid notions as to how the writing got there, and put on her clothes.

She was about to start blowdrying her hair when there was a cracking noise and the lights went out. The room was completely black.

Again, she was startled but recovered quickly as she put the hairdryer down, waiting for her eyes to adjust. "Ooh, a blackout!" she said to no one, feigning a scared voice. "That's, like, _so _original."

Then the intruder alarm started blaring, and she finally started to panic. She groped around in the dark to orient herself, when she heard a soft BAMF.

"Kitty, Kitty!" Kurt called from somewhere behind the door, his voice frantic. "Ve have to get out of here! Someone's broken in; ze Professor's–" He was interrupted by his own pained scream and there was a horrendous crash. A thump, and then silence.

"Kurt!" she cried, and, barely breathing, ran to the door. She phased through it and emerged in her room.

She stifled a gasp at the toppled furniture, but ignored it and looked around for Kurt. It was difficult to make out anything in the dark, but she saw him lying still on the floor near the door and ran over to him.

Her heart stopped when she saw him. There was a knife embedded in his chest, and even though it was dark, she could clearly see blood seeping through his uniform and trickling down to the floor. He was pale and unmoving; his eyes were lifeless.

"Oh, my god," she breathed, her knees giving out, and then she screamed, "Professor! Logan!"

Trembling now, she crawled over to Kurt's limp body when a cool laughter echoed through the room. She bolted to her feet and glanced around, shivering madly. "Wh-Who's there?!"

The alarm stopped, and the room was suddenly completely silent. "You're next," a raspy voice whispered with bloodlust, somewhere close. She jumped and backed up to the wall, but she felt a hand grip her shoulder. Screaming, she instinctively punched out at whatever was there, phased out of its grip and stumbled away.

"Ow!" cried a voice, strangely familiar.

The lights turned back on suddenly and Kitty found herself staring at Kurt, who was clutching his nose with both hands, his eyes shut from pain.

"Kurt?" Kitty blurted out, gaping. The adrenaline fading, she glanced with disbelief from the Kurt in front of her to the one still lying injured on the floor.

That's when the door opened and the Professor and Logan stormed in.

"Kitty, are you–" the Professor began, but halted at the sight of the stabbed Kurt. "Oh my...!"

Logan's eyes widened, but then he sniffed the air and crossed his arms. "That ain't Kurt, Chuck." He walked over to the lying body, pressed a button on the body's holowatch, and revealed a plain, white manikin.

Then, finally, they noticed the real Kurt, doubled over in the corner and still holding his nose. He froze when he realized everyone was staring at him. "Uh... happy Halloveen!" he chirped, his voice somewhat nasal.

In the next second, the two adults figured out what had happened. However, before they could say anything, Kitty stood up and stomped towards the blue mutant, whose humorous expression was replaced by fear as he held up his palms in surrender.

"Now, vait a second, Kitty; it vas just– Ow!"

He yelped again as she hit him on the shoulder, but then she hugged him.

Kurt was speechless. Thankfully, he heard the Professor's voice in his mind. '_You should apologize to her, Kurt. She was scared for _your_ safety._'

With that, he was snapped out of his trance and looked down at the girl who was no longer cringing from his touch. "Sorry, Kätzchen," he whispered, returning the hug somewhat clumsily. "...But you've got to admit, I had you terrified!"

Kitty giggled slightly and broke the hug.

"As _touching _as that is, too much is too much," said Wolverine, gesturing to the messy room. "You're on probation, Elf, and you can start by cleaning up this room."

"Aw, man," Kurt whined, slumping. "It vas just a joke...!"

"While that may be, Logan is right," the Professor explained, wheeling himself closer to them. "Activating the alarms and tampering with your holowatch in such a way was a little overboard, and could have had unintended consequences."

"I understand, Professor," Kurt sighed, hanging his head.

"Well then," the Professor smiled, steepling his fingers, "I think that's enough entertainment for one night. Come, Logan, let's leave them to it."

Logan grunted, and with one last look at Kurt and Kitty, he and the Professor left the room and closed the door behind them.

As Kurt started to pick up the various pieces of furniture he'd pushed over on purpose, he couldn't help but grin at Kitty's shaken appearance, even though she wasn't scared anymore. "You should have seen your face," he said proudly as he set a lamp back on the bedside table. "But I must say, I vas touched to see you pining over my dead body."

"Just keep going, Fuzzy," Kitty replied, her sweet tone laced with venom. "Oh, and how's your nose?"

Kurt felt his face warm up slightly, embarrassed. His nose still ached, actually, but he wasn't going to tell her that. So, he pretended to be deeply engrossed in his cleaning duties.

Then he remembered their hug, and he realized that although she might be angry, Kitty was no longer tense. He smiled to himself. Mission accomplished.


	4. To Make a Quick Getaway

**Author's Note  
****  
**_Here's a short one. Yeah, I succumbed to peer pressure. Catch me writing something like this again! (but who knows, maybe I will - times change)  
Yes, 'misporting' is not an actual word. However, I'm sure you can figure out what it means._

_'Kay, I'm making it my mission for the next one to not be about Kurt and Kitty._

_Also, thank you, Sonar, for the review. I would've replied had your PM feature been enabled.  
_

_**Disclaimer: **X-Men and characters belong to Marvel.  
_

* * *

**Quick Getaway**

Nightcrawler tossed and turned in his bed, covers thrown dejectedly on the floor. The window was open but it seemed the house was holding its breath; no wind left or entered. The AC was on but all it seemed to do was disperse heat rather than cool air.

As amazing as his mutations could be sometimes, there was one serious drawback to his blue fur - summer. He felt like he was going to boil beneath all that fur, and there wasn't much he could do about it. It wasn't like he was going to ask someone to trim it (no, he'd rather put off that embarrassing scenario for as long as possible), so he was stuck feeling lethargic the whole day.

At least he wasn't the only one with this problem. Beast, too, was furry and suffering the consequences. Fortunately, he was very sympathetic to Kurt about it, understanding his constant sluggishness and excusing him from any arduous work. Logan and his school teachers, on the other hand...

Grumbling, Nightcrawler tried to forget his Friday detention for snoozing in class (though it felt more like a heatstroke than a nap) and his extra Danger Room session, received due to performing poorly in his training exercises.

"Move your tail, Elf!" Wolverine had yelled as Nightcrawler began trailing behind the group. The objective had been to overcome the obstacles and reach the goal in time, under the pretense that it was all or none and no powers were allowed. Nightcrawler had ended up being too slow and causing the entire team to fail, much to his embarrassment. Of course, at the time, he was choking for breath and sweating like a pig, so he hadn't felt much of anything except for the desire to fall asleep in the refrigerator.

Nightcrawler groaned again and rolled over for the thousandth time. Then, he planted his face deep into the pillow, as if he could smother himself to sleep. He waited a few minutes but it didn't work. He was still awake and it was still too hot.

His stomach growled suddenly, and he rolled over again onto his side. Great, now he was hungry. He glanced at the red-light digital watch on his bedside table and, through bleary eyes, read 1:48. It was pretty late - his stomach growled again - but not _too _late.

'Well, it's not like I'm going to fall asleep anyway,' he thought, and made up his mind.

BAMF!

Kurt reappeared and immediately headed towards the fridge, but his foot didn't touch the floor and, noticing too late that he wasn't in the kitchen, he tumbled down a flight of stairs, yelping, until he came to a stop on the floor.

He would have admonished himself for misporting or groaned from the pain of the fall, but suddenly all that was forgotten when he realized how wonderful the cold, marble floor felt against his fur. Rolling onto his stomach, he squirmed against it, trying to get as much contact as possible, and sighed with content.

Beast should really try this, Kurt mused dreamily as he found a comfortable position.

"Uh... Kurt? Like, what are you doing?"

For so many reasons, that could only be one person. Kitty. Kurt's eyes shot wide open and he bit his lip in an attempt to hold back the blush that crept up his face, realizing how awkward he must have looked. There he was, getting rather intimate with the floor.

"Vell, I zought I needed some cooling off," Kurt answered finally, not getting up or turning around, in an attempt to appear nonchalant.

"Okay, well, um..." Her voice was unusually slow and nervous. He ignored it. "Just so I know, are we still on the for the school dance, or are you, like, taking Miss Marble instead?"

"Don't be silly," he smirked, sitting up finally. Then he turned back to the floor and stroked it lovingly, whispering, "I'll call you back later."

Kitty giggled slightly at that, and he smiled. Getting to his feet, he turned to her at last and was about to ask her what she was doing up this late but froze abruptly when he noticed her eyes, slightly wide, were glued to him.

Something was wrong. "Vhat? Is... Is mein hair all poofy again?"

After a few moments, Kitty snapped out of her trance. "No, no, that's not it," she stammered, walking past him rather briskly.

He caught the blush on her face, though. Okay, now he knew there was something wrong. Something serious. Something big and obvious. As he made to follow Kitty into the kitchen, he vaguely saw his reflection on the smooth floor and it hit him like a brick. A brick lined with contact explosive.

"Ack!" he gasped, flinching in terror.

"It's okay, Fuzzy," came Kitty's muffled voice from the kitchen, "it's not the first time I've seen you shirtless."

That it wasn't, but Kurt was not only shirtless; it had been a hot night so he'd decided to go to bed in his boxers only. How could he have forgotten?

His hunger and body temperature out of the window, he backpedaled, his cheeks burning in a full-on blush and his hands suddenly clammy. He heard Kitty emerging from the kitchen and panicked.

BAMF!

"Kurt?" Kitty called, looking around for the furry mutant. He was gone.

She allowed herself a smile.


	5. To Call Dibs

**Author's Note  
**_This fifth one-shot is sort of two ideas in one; I combined them because they seemed to fit (and because if I didn't, the second part wouldn't have a significant use of teleportation in it). The first part was inspired by the armchair we have in our living room. I don't know whether the Xavier Institute had such a chair, but hey, I'm making up a lot of things as I go along, so why not this._

_I hope I got the characters right. I realized I'm making Nightcrawler sound like a royal prick, to put it lightly. Haha. It'll change, though... I look forward to experimenting with darker storylines. We're getting there.  
_

_**Disclaimer: **X-Men and characters belong to Marvel.  
_

* * *

**The Fur Problem**

"So, vhat movie are we watching?" asked Kurt, turning to Evan as he took the bag of popcorn from the microwave and poured it into a bowl. He then grabbed the bowl with his tail and used his hands to put another bag of popcorn into the microwave and press the 'one minute' button.

"The Sixth Sense," answered Evan, pouring himself a glass of soda. "That's as scary as the girls wanted to go, and Kitty hasn't seen it yet."

"Wunderbar, zat's a great movie," Kurt remarked, proceeding to stuff his mouth full with popcorn.

Evan scoffed and snatched the bowl of popcorn from Kurt's tail. "Quit hogging the popcorn, K-Man! The movie hasn't even started yet!" He then grabbed a handful himself, and Kurt snorted in offense. "Well, hurry up, we're starting soon."

With that, Evan walked away, and Kurt rolled his eyes. '_Unfortunately, my mutation is not to make this verdammte microwave work faster._' He glared impatiently at the timer. 0:37, 0:36, 0:35...

"Dibs on the armchair!" Kurt heard Evan yell.

An opportunity like this simply begged to be taken. Kurt's trademark toothy grin appeared on his face; a grin that meant that somebody, somewhere, was suddenly not going to be very happy.

BAMF!

Kurt reappeared on the armchair with a smirk, right as Evan was about reach it. Evan skidded to a stop, nearly dropping the bowl of popcorn.

"No way, K-Man, you had that chair last time," Evan protested, only able to glare daggers the blue mutant since his hands were full.

"Yes, I did. And I have it now, as vell. Zere is a pattern developing."

Evan was about to retort when he heard a distant beeping noise. He raised his head knowingly. "Ah, that'll be the rest of the popcorn," he declared coolly, making a seemingly trivial statement sound like the musings of an evil mastermind.

Kurt frowned, conceding defeat. "Fine, you can have ze chair."

BAMF!

BAMF!

In a puff of smoke, Kurt was gone and then reappeared back in the living room. While Evan reclined in the luxurious armchair, raising the footrest, Kurt, now holding a bowl of popcorn, walked over to the couch. He obviously wasn't going to sit between Scott and Jean, so he sat on the very edge of the couch, next to Kitty. Since Rogue had her own and Scott, Jean, and Evan were sharing, Kurt placed the bowl of popcorn between him and Kitty, who started picking off and eating the popcorn one by one.

Kurt raised his brow at the method but ignored it as Jean announced, "Good, now that we're all here, we can finally start." Scott went to dim the lights while Jean pressed a button on the remote, bringing the enormous plasma screen to life.

Barely realizing it, Kurt noticed his tail fishing around in the bowl of popcorn. Biting his lip, he looked to see if Kitty had noticed, but she didn't seem to mind. Kurt released his held breath. If Kitty had seen this a week ago, she would have freaked out about how uncivil and unclean it was.

Even though she was over that now, Kurt withdrew his tail from the bowl and ate with his hands. The movie started.

* * *

'The Sixth Sense' was the kind of movie that one wanted to reflect upon and talk about after it was over. Unfortunately, the adolescents did not get that chance. Logan burst in with a mandatory Danger Room session so soon after the movie's end that he might as well have been waiting behind the door the whole time.

And that was how, two hours later, Kurt found himself sitting on his bed, rubbing his shoulder where the paint pellet had nailed him. The bullet hadn't been meant for him; it would have hit an unsuspecting Jamie had Kurt not tried to tackle him out of the way. This was about the fifth time Kurt had been struck out in a training exercise because of attempting to save someone else. He wasn't going to stop doing it, but it was getting somewhat annoying. These younger mutants needed to learn how to keep their guard up.

Yawning, Kurt stretched and looked at his bedside alarm clock. Still some time before dinner. Too tired to do anything else, he rummaged through his school bag, found the book titled '1984', and jumped onto his bed.

"Kurt, open up!" yelled Rogue from behind the door, giving it a few explosive knocks. The blue mutant nearly dropped his book at the intensity of her voice, but composed himself and hopped over to the door.

He opened the door with a megawatt smile, but it dropped from his face when Rogue suddenly thrust a dustpan into his three-fingered hands.

"Vhat... Vhat's zis about?" Kurt asked, glancing at the dustpan nervously and then at Rogue, who had her arms crossed and was glaring rather harshly at him.

"See for yourself," Rogue snapped, and yanked him forward by the shirt.

"Ow, hey!" He yelped in protest. "Is zis zat bad time of ze month?"

"Yeah, a bad time for _you_," Rogue riposted, and they arrived in the living room, where they had watched the movie. "Look at this!"

She gestured to the couch, and Kurt obediently walked over to it to have a look. He gasped when saw clumps of blue fur all over the cushions. Still gaping, he turned back to Rogue and said lamely, "But... I'm not..."

"And that's not all," Rogue interrupted, tapping her foot impatiently. "There's fur in the kitchen as well, on the floor and counter, and all _over_ the Danger Room."

Kurt was about to protest, still dumbfounded, but Rogue beat him to it. "So, you're gonna clean it up, or you're gonna have tah shave."

With that, she left him standing there, dustpan in hand. He thought of arguing, since he brushed his fur regularly and hadn't noticed any more shedding than usual, but, at the thought of her threat, accepted his fate with a sight and began to brush the couch.

Kurt was no stranger to removing fur from furniture. When he'd been young and hyperactive around the house (since his adoptive mother didn't allow him to go outside much), on some days there was fur everywhere and he'd often had to clean it up. However, experience did not make the current task any easier. The brush seemed to pass through the fur like Kitty's phasing ability, and he ended up having to pick up the individual clumps by hand.

It was a little easier to sweep the fur from the smooth surfaces of the kitchen and the Danger Room, but by the time he was finished, his back ached and he was starving. Hoping that dinner was soon, he 'ported to the kitchen, only to see clumps of fur once again dotting the floor.

"All right, zat's it," Kurt ranted, clenching his fists, "I'm–"

He stopped himself when he saw, though the open door and hall, Beast sitting on the couch. Kurt stared at him for a while, and realization dawned on him.

BAMF!

Kurt reappeared in front of the teacher, and Hank jumped in alarm, nearly spilling the coffee that he held in his hands. "Hello, Herr McCoy!" Kurt said cheerfully, while taking note of the blue clumps of fur on the couch. He held the dustpan behind his back with his tail.

"Good evening, Kurt," Beast replied cordially once he composed himself. "Is anything the matter?"

"Vell, yes, I vanted to talk to you about somezing," Kurt began, suddenly feeling nervous. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. Deciding it was the best way to communicate, Kurt brought the dustpan from his tail to his hands and held it for Hank to see.

Beast glanced at the fur in the dustpan and then back at Kurt, a perplexed expression on his face. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. Is this about shedding your fur, Kurt?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not mein fur, Herr McCoy. It's yours."

Beast turned back to the dustpan for a moment. And then he burst into a booming laughter.

Awkwardly, Kurt shifted on his feet. "Uh... vat's so funny?"

The laughs faded into chuckles, and Beast smiled. "Nothing, Kurt. I apologize for giving you cleanup duty; I should have realized. I suppose there are a few things I must adapt to, now that I look like this."

"Vell, I suggest lots of brushing," Kurt lectured, grinning.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"So, uh..." His tail twitched, and he found himself unable to finish the sentence.

Beast smiled. "Don't worry, I can clean up after myself. You can go."

This made the younger mutant's ears perk up. "Danke, Herr McCoy!" he chirped, handing Beast the dustpan. Then, with a wink, he added, "Try not to rely on ze brush too much."

With that, Kurt disappeared in the traditional crimson cloud, leaving behind a somewhat bemused Beast.


	6. To Get the Prize

**Author's Note**

_I was going to post this on Christmas, I really was, but somebody decided to cut the power in our house for a few days. I'm not going to complain, though; my Christmas was great nonetheless, even if it was really hot due to the lack of air conditioning._

_Anyway, I enjoyed writing this, even though the last part was rather severely out of my comfort zone. I don't think I'm meant to write lovey-dovey scenes like that. Speaking of which, I felt Kitty's response there was familiar; I hope I didn't subconsciously steal it from somewhere.  
_

_Toad is an interesting character to write, too... It's hard to convey his speech in writing; his voice actor in the show does a very good job of giving Toad a characteristic sound. There's not really a way to accurately write those sounds, but perhaps you can imagine them.  
_

_Anyway, I'm not going to go into a long speech, so here it is. I hope you enjoy it - and your holidays. (Since it's too late to say Merry Christmas.)  
_

_Before I forget, thank you 8fangirl8 for the anonymous review. Made me very happy.  
_

_**Disclaimer: **X-Men and characters belong to Marvel.  
_

_PS: I'm aware Kitty's Jewish, but... she was getting presents in the episode 'On Angel's Wings', so that's what I'm basing this off of.  
_

* * *

**A Last-Minute Christmas**

Yes, it was horrible of him. Yes, he should have been ashamed. Yes, he should have looked for a Christmas present long before the twenty-fourth. To his credit, though, he _had_ bought a scarf for her, but yesterday he learned from Evan that she was irritated by the particular material. Of course, he blamed himself for not realizing that. No, he probably didn't deserve a friend like Kitty if this was how he was going to treat her. Thinking like that, though, wasn't going to get him anywhere. The fact was, he'd made a mistake, and now he had to do some last minute shopping.

The other fact was that many of the stores were sold out, some of them even closed, and quite a few weren't Christmas-related at all. Kurt, clad in his holographic coat and hat, not to mention his human image, discovered this as he desperately explored the mall, his hopes taking a dive every time he passed another 'sold out' sign.

Thankfully, the mall was mostly empty, so he didn't have to worry so much about hiding his identity, but this was also a grim reminder that everyone had already finished their shopping - and that the stores were all out of stock.

'_No, there's got to be something_!' he screamed to himself, and ran up the final escalator. And if there wasn't... he was in trouble. He couldn't exactly go to another mall; no one would take him there. He had to walk here, as it was.

Little did Kurt know that there was another mutant in the mall thinking exactly the same thing.

Kurt wandered through the final floor, the food court, with little hope, as there was unlikely to be any worthwhile store in the food section. Sure enough, very soon he found himself at the downward escalator, and he sighed. "Verdammt, zere's nozing," he moaned, holding his face in his hands.

But just as he was about to give up, he noticed that beside the stairs, there was a seclusive corner behind which he hadn't looked. Trembling with anticipation, he made his way towards it and peeked around the corner.

There, where people would normally assume the restrooms to be, was an inconspicuous little store, its lighted sign marred by several broken lightbulbs but still clearly showing a diamond and the word 'jewelry'. There were still items on display, and none of those items was a sign reading 'sold out'. And that was all he needed.

"Yes!" Kurt exclaimed, leaping for joy. Almost forgetting civility and scampering to the door, he manage to pace himself and reach the store in a controlled, albeit speedy, walk.

He entered the store and triggered a chiming tone from a motion detector nearby. Immediately, a salesclerk was in his face.

"Good day, young man!" said the clerk, an old man, probably in his late sixties, with receding grey hair. The smile on his face was so sincere that Kurt had to feel some sympathy and relaxed. "May I help you?"

Nevertheless, Kurt stepped back instinctively, wary of anyone getting too close. "Hello, sir," he replied cordially, nodding his head in greeting. "I vas searching for a Christmas present for mein friend. I know it's a little late, but..."

"Nonsense, it's never too late!" the man interrupted, waving him away with his hand. "Now, this friend... This would be a _lady friend_, yes?"

"Ja," Kurt answered, feeling his face grow warm.

Even though it was impossible, the man seemed to notice and chuckled. "Wonderful. For something special, have a look at these items over here," he said, leading Kurt to one of the many glass shelves in the store.

Kurt looked over the sparkling, golden necklaces and brilliant, colorful gems. As he did so, he vaguely perceived the bell chiming as another person entered the store and the salesclerk going to talk to him, but the blue mutant was too engrossed in his search to pay it much thought. His eyes fell upon a beautiful silver necklace, and he was thinking what a wonderful gift it would be when he saw the price tag. Then he saw _all_ the price tags.

His ears drooped and he deflated like a punctured car tire. "Agh, nein!" he hissed to himself, hitting his forehead with his palm. "Vhat vas I zinking? Zat's a digit too expensive!"

The old man was back at his side. "Is something the matter?"

Kurt averted his eyes shyly. "Vell, I... I'm sorry, sir, but I can't afford zis... I've only got a hundred..."

Not put off in the least, the salesclerk smiled again. "You are in luck, then. There is one remaining item that you can afford, and it's one of my personal favorites."

The man led him to another wall, except this one was completely bare save for one glass case. In it, draped over a velvety, white cushion, was an elegant gold chain with a simple ruby pendant. Although it wasn't as glamorous as the others, it did look like something Kitty would like.

However, it was then that Kurt noticed the smell. The putrid smell that always made him cringe and could only belong to either a mountain of sweaty shoes or one particular person.

"Toad," Kurt grumbled, turning to the other mutant, who was some distance next to him, staring at the same glass case. Sure enough, it was Toad - long filthy hair, yellow eyes and teeth, and that disgusting smell which was not lessened at all by the thick and raggedy coat he was wearing.

Toad pretended to ignore him and jumped up to the salesclerk. "Yo, how much for this here charm?"

Kurt blinked in surprise at that, but his surprise was soon replaced by irritation, and he glared daggers into the back of Toad's unsuspecting head. Before Toad could take things any further, Kurt stomped over to them and pulled Toad backwards by the collar of his coat. He turned to the salesclerk with a plastic smile. "Sorry to interrupt, excuse us for just a second."

The salesclerk could only stare blankly as Kurt dragged the struggling Toad to the corner outside the store, out of view.

"Get yer paws off me," Toad yelped, finally managing to release Kurt's hold on his coat.

"Vhat are you doing here?!" Kurt snapped, feeling his tail starting to lash back and forth.

"Same thing you're doin'," Toad replied casually, digging into his ear with a finger. "Gettin' a present. For Wanda."

Kurt's eyes softened slightly, but his fists remained clenched. "You? Buying a present?" he scoffed. "You can't afford anyzing in zat store."

"I can!" said Toad with indignation, gesturing to himself with his thumb. "That little necklace he was talkin' about."

'_Great_,' Kurt groaned to himself, realizing the obvious conflict, '_we both want the same thing_.' He sighed and rubbed his eyes with exasperation. "Look, Toad, you're going to have to find anozer store."

"What? No way, blue-boy! You find another store!"

"I vas here first," Kurt asserted, a low growl in his voice - though with his holowatch on, it probably didn't sound very menacing.

It was Toad's turn to scoff. "So? All's fair in love and war, yo."

With that, Toad turned to return to the store. Thinking quickly, Kurt glanced down to the stairs - if he squinted, he could see more than one floor below. It was risky, but... After making sure they were indeed out of sight, he grabbed Toad's sleeve and they were gone in a cloud of smoke.

They reappeared two floors down, behind the escalator. Fortunately, no one seemed to be near that area.

"Sorry, Toad," Kurt said, releasing the other mutant. Before Toad could say anything, Kurt was gone again in another BAMF.

The blue mutant reappeared back where he and Toad had argued and, without wasting any time, headed straight to the store.

"Hello again," Kurt said quickly to the salesclerk, whose eyes were still wide at the strangeness of the situation. "Ve, er, came to an agreement. Could I buy zat necklace, please?"

Kurt pointed to the golden necklace, the only affordable item in the store, and the man followed with his gaze. "Certainly," he replied, a little shakily, and open the glass case with a key and took out the necklace.

As the salesclerk packaged the item, Kurt fidgeted nervously, watching the outside of the store for signs of Toad. He wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Here it is," said the salesclerk, holding a small, white shopping bag. "That'll be a hundred dollars, please."

Kurt found the exact bill - the only bill, as fate would have it - in his pocket and handed it over.

The salesclerk accepted with a smile. "Thank you, and goodbye. Have a Merry Christmas."

"Zank you, sir; you too," Kurt replied, and with that, he grabbed the bag and, somewhat hastily, left the store.

The blue mutant briskly made his way down the escalators to the first floor, keeping an eye out for Toad, finding his absence to be somewhat suspicious. But by the time he arrived at the first floor, he allowed himself to relax a bit. Surely Toad would have tried something by now if he'd wanted to.

Now there was the walk home. Kurt shivered as he approached the mall doors. Even with fur like his, it was still pretty chilly outside, and it didn't help that he wasn't actually wearing a coat - beneath his hologram, he wore, as always, only his X-Man uniform. It was an old habit that he really should have been working to get rid of. It wasn't that he was entirely cold; it was only his feet. The uniform didn't provide much foot-warmth for trudging through the snow, but then again, it was difficult to find winter shoes with his kind of foot.

However, Kurt was snapped out of these thoughts when he was suddenly shoved through a pair of doors and into what looked like a janitor's closet. He found himself pinned against the wall and staring into the face of Toad.

"So you wanna use powers in public, huh?" Toad said, a foreboding look in his eyes. "Alright, that's cool."

Kurt recovered from the shock and struggled against Toad's grip. "Toad, vhat are you–"

Unfortunately, he could say no more as Toad spat a glob of slime into his face. Gagging at the revolting taste and smell of it, Kurt frantically clawed it off his face. Then he spent a good minute coughing and sputtering, trying to get the taste off his tongue. By the time he was done, he felt sick to his stomach, Toad was nowhere to be seen, and the shopping bag was gone.

Kurt bristled with anger as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve for the hundredth time. '_Toad's going to get it_,' he growled to himself as he stormed out of the room.

* * *

It was half an hour later that Nightcrawler, his image inducer turned off, finally arrived at the Brotherhood house. His feet were cold and wet, his facial and tail fur was matted with snow, and he still avoided breathing through his nose, but none of those things were going to stop him. This was the only chance he had to not disappoint Kitty, and he wasn't going to let Toad take that away.

He wasn't simply going to charge in, though; the Brotherhood would probably throw him out. No, this was a stealth mission. Kurt 'ported to a nearby tree branch and peered into one of the upper windows. Empty. He 'ported to another branch and glanced into another window, with the same result.

On the third window, he caught a glimpse of Toad, setting the shopping bag down and pulling the box out of it. Kurt's tail began lashing around again, and something within him snapped. Stealth went out the window.

BAMF!

"Give it back, Toad!" yelled Kurt, tackling Toad to the ground. Toad yelped in surprise as the box flew out of his hands and landed a short distance away. Kurt wasted no time and jumped to get it, but Toad snagged Kurt's foot with his elongated tongue, making him fall flat on his face.

Toad used the opportunity to grab the box, but Kurt tackled him again. The two rolled around in a comical cloud of limbs, both trying to get the upper hand, until Kurt finally held the box and kicked Toad away. He hit the wall with a loud thud, and the door to the room suddenly slammed open.

"What is going on up here?!" Wanda demanded, but she did a double-take when she saw Kurt, who immediately tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Look, Vanda," Kurt started, holding his hands up placatingly, "I'm only here because–"

The air was knocked out of him when Toad tackled him to the floor, face-first. While Kurt was dazed, Toad grabbed both his hands and held them behind his back, effectively immobilizing him. "No worries, baby-cakes," grinned Toad, sitting victoriously on the vainly struggling mutant's back. Just to rub it in, Toad rubbed his knuckles vigorously against Kurt's scalp, making him wince as his hair was pulled. "Toad's got everythin' under control."

Needless to say, Kurt was livid. Growling, he slapped Toad's face with his tail, loosening Toad's grip enough for Kurt to turn over and kick him off again. However, as Kurt stood up to retrieve the box, which was now in Toad's possession, Lance and Fred stepped into the room.

"You better get out the way you came in, blue-boy," warned Avalanche, stepping forward and raising his fist threateningly.

"I'll be happy to, vonce Toad gives back vhat he stole," Kurt snapped, still furious as he glanced at the box Toad clutched in his arms.

"No can do," responded Avalanche, and with a clench of his fists, the room began to tremble.

His eyes widening, Kurt realized it was over and hurriedly 'ported away with a BAMF.

He reappeared below the window and glared at it with contempt, but as the adrenalin from the tussle died down, his tail drooped and the anger left him. Instead, he was filled with regret and shame, and he sighed dejectedly at his failure. He didn't have his Christmas present for Kitty, he didn't have any more money to buy another one, and there was no time to do so anyway.

Coming to terms with it, he hung his head and started dragging his feet home when he suddenly found himself surrounded by a blue light.

"Crawler," came a familiar voice from behind him.

"Vanda?" he breathed, turning back to the window to see the Scarlet Witch holding him with her powers.

"A piece of cheap jewelry isn't worth it, anyway," she said cryptically, and with that, she disappeared.

Kurt stood there for a minute, pondering over what she'd said. Even as he trudged towards the Xavier mansion, it was still on his mind.

* * *

After spending ten additional minutes in the shower, trying to vanquish any trace of Toad's slime on his fur, Kurt, now dressed in the more comfortable red shirt and beige trousers, lay on his bed, deep in thought. Gifts were supposed to be exchanged after dinner, since many people - including himself and Kitty - were leaving early tomorrow.

But he still had absolutely nothing for Kitty.

That lone thought plagued him for the next hour. It was the only thing on his mind during dinner; he was unresponsive and toyed with his food to the point that Jean asked him whether he was sick. It continued to haunt him after dinner, when everyone gathered at the tall Christmas tree in the living room, laughing and chattering as jolly music played in the background. And it was almost tearing him apart when he watched Kitty receive and smile delightedly at other gifts.

Trying to stave off the inevitable, he focused on everyone else first. He gave Evan one of those miniature skateboards - the ones controlled by fingers, not feet. He gave Jean a cardigan sweater (he'd had to call his mother for that idea), and he gave Scott, more as a joke than anything else, a model of a red convertible that looked almost exactly like Scott's car. With Evan, he gave the Professor a snowglobe of the Xavier mansion. And contrary to Rogue's orders, he hugged her for a while before giving her a bracelet. It warmed his spirits when she hugged back, and he almost forgot about his predicament.

However, before he knew it, he found himself face to face with Kitty. She was sitting near the lighted fireplace, a smile on her face while she took stock of her presents. For whatever reason, he found himself staring at her and thinking how pretty her skin looked in the glow of the fire.

Shaking his head to snap himself out of it, he leapt over to her and perched himself on the arm of her chair. "Hello, Kätzchen!" he beamed. Before she could say anything, he stuck his hand into his pocket and pretended to pull something out. "I don't have your present wrapped, so... could you close your eyes?"

Kitty rolled her eyes before closing them. "Whatever you say, Fuzzy," she said, sitting back into the chair. "But this better not be another–"

She could say no more as Kurt pulled some mistletoe out of his pocket, held it above them with one arm, and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"Kurt!" she yelped, pushing him off.

The blue mutant deftly dodged his plummeting emotions - the feeling like he'd been punched in the gut - and everyone's stare by grinning mischievously. "Zat's for escaping me last time."

Of course, last Christmas, he'd chased her as a prank, not as an actual present. Her reaction was the same both times, but the way he felt now was incomparable to last year.

With Kurt's remark, everyone relaxed somewhat and the room seemed to release a held breath, but Kurt felt that a part of him was suddenly missing. Unable to keep his mask of cheer on for long, he smooth-talked his way from the group. With convincing grins and jovial repetitions of "Merry Christmas!", Kurt eventually managed to escape to an empty hallway.

Once he was there, he sighed and immediately proceeded to bang his head against the wall. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he hissed through clenched teeth, and hit his head harder.

"You will be, if you keep hitting yourself like that," said a voice, and Kurt wheeled around to see Kitty standing behind him, smiling.

"Kitty, hello!" he began, not sure how to act and thus pretending to be simply embarrassed by averting his eyes and rubbing the back of his neck. "I vas just testing ze durability of zis vall. You know, in case of, erm... intruders."

"Look, Fuzzy," she sighed, ignoring the lame excuse and walking over to him, her head hanging low. "I'm sorry for how I reacted... It's not your fault; I just wasn't expecting it, that's all."

"Zat vas razer ze point, Kätzchen," he answered sardonically.

"Still," Kitty shrugged, and pretended to think. "For such a Christmas present, I'd feel bad not to give you anything."

And before Kurt could say anything, she placed her palms on his cheeks and kissed him. This time it was he who tensed, and his eyes widened with shock, but soon this and all his other worries were melted away by a warm, tingling sensation that spread through his body. He almost didn't notice when she pulled away gently and, giggling, ran off through a wall. He remained standing there for a long time, a goofy grin on his face.

Merry Christmas indeed.


End file.
